Apparatus for the continuous distillation of high-boiling hydrocarbons to coke



2,164,247 DISTILLATION OF ILING HYDROCARBONS TO COKE June 27, 1939. A'KNUDSEN APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS HIGH-BO Filed Feb. 10, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 tmbm SSE sin 23% lnvenfoh:

ALFRED KNUDSEN 701144 v fl tz ATTOR Patented June 27, 1939 PATENT OFFICE 2,164,247 APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS DISTIL- LATION OF HIGH BONS TO COKE -BOILING HYDROCAR- Alfred Knudsen, Astra ,(Chubut), Argentina, as-

signor to the firm Astra Compafiia Argentina de Petrleo Sbciedad Annima, Buenos Aires,

Argentina Application February 10, 1937,

Serial No. 125,166

In Germany June 20, 1936 4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for the continuous distillation of highboiling hydrocarbons to coke. More particularly, this invention concerns modifications of the apparatus claimed in Patent No. 2,006,273.

The present invention has for one of its objects to permit of a more complete utilization of heat in a distillation plant of the plant modified according to the present invention may be employed advantageously wherever it is desired to distil to coke the viscous residue of a previously treated oil. This plant has furthermore the advantage that, due to more compact construction, a saving of" constructional material is secured and less space is required.

Other objects and features of the present in? vention will appear from the following description.

A constructional form of the apparatus according to the invention example in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section through the plant,

Figure 2 shows a cross section, and Figure 3 shows a longitudinal section through a sealing element, while Figure 4 shows an outer view of the annular elements of the seals.

Referring to'Figure 1, I is the furnace with the distillation chamber I, through which travels an endless chain arrangement 2 of containers 3. The container chain is moved continuously by toothed driving wheels l2 and enters the distillation chamber I through the opening I, leaving it again through the opening 1a. The toothed wheels l2 are driven by a main shaft I I of a suitable motor drive.

The distillation chamber l is heated on all sides by means of burners 8. The oil vapours are led through the suction conduit l3 to the rectifying columns l4.

In front of the distillation chamber I is a filling chamber 6 for filling the containers 3 with the oil supplied by the filling device 29. The containers 3 are filled automatically as soon as they come into the horizontal position. Before entering the distillation chamber, the containers pass over a short rail, not shown, which serves as a filling bridge. The filling chamber 6 is closed from the outside air by a casing 28. Adjoining the furnace is a steam chamber which serves for hardening the coke residue and into which steam can be introduced by means of a supply pipe 31. The steam chamber 5 is closed from the outside air by a casing 23a.

above kind. The

' Externally, springs is shown by way of by means loosens the coke At the inlet of the container chain 2 into the filling chamber- 6 and the outlet of the container chain from the steam chamber 5, permanently built-in sealing elements 3la and 3th, respectively, are provided.

These sealing elements (Figure 22) comprise a casing 35 enclosing a plurality of adjacent asbestos rings 33 provided with iron reinforcements. The inner surface of the asbestos rings 33 is lined with four thin, smooth steel plates 32. 34 connected to form a ring by connecting pieces 38 are provided on the asbestos rings 33 and act upon the annular elements in such a manner that the plates 32 are pressed against the container surfaces 3 moving past them and fit tightly against them. The length of the sealing elements amounts to about A of the length of a'container, so that two transverse walls of the containers are always situated Within the length of the sealing elements. The closure between the containers and the sealing elements is hermetic and resilient. In order to prevent with certainty any entry of air at these inlet or outlet places, steam is also supplied through nozzles 36.

The containers 3 are filled in the chamber 6 by the filling device 29, then pass through the opening 7 into the distillation chamber I, where their contents are distilled, then the containers 3 travel in a continuous movement through the steam chamber 5 where the There, the coke residue is removed from the containers by an automatic device 30. The device for removing the coke comprises a milling head, which is introduced into the container. The rotary movement of the milling cutter which falls out by gravity.

A principal use of the new apparatus is for the distillation to coke of material immediately after the process producing such material, carried out in a preceding plant, the residue being then passed directly through-the apparatus for continuous distillation. If for example a crude oil is vaporised in a tube furnace to an extent of 30-50%, the very viscous residue (70-50%) may be passed immediately, that is to say without any material loss of heat, into the apparatus for the distillationto coke and there converted to coke.

I claim.

1. Apparatus for the continuous distillation of high-boiling hydrocarbons to coke comprising, in combination, a furnace having an oil filling chamber, a distillation chamber with two openings in the walls thereof, and a steam chamber, an endless chain of distillation containers having one of the stretches thereof arranged to pass continuously through said chambers and the other stretch thereof arranged to pass out of the steam chamber and into the filling chamber, all of said containers in the chain being adapted to receive oil, and sealing elements at the inlet for the container chain into the filling chamber and at its outlet from the steam chamber, said sealing elements cooperating with the containers of the chain andsealing the filling chamber and the steam chamber hermetically, the filling, distillation and steam chambers enclosing and hermetically sealing from the outer air, the entire extent of the container chain excepting the length of the stretch thereof between said sealing elements which is exposedto the outer air for the removal of the coke.

2. Apparatus for the continuous distillation to coke oi high-boiling hydrocarbons comprising in combination, an endless chain of oil containers having oppositely disposed stretches, a furnace having a distillation chamber provided with two opposite openings through which travels continuously one of the stretches of the chain of contaiuers, an oil filling chamber disposed in front of the distillation chamber and adapted to supply all of said containers with oil, a steam chamher behind said distillation chamber, said filling and steam chambers enclosing the extremities of the chain and the steam chamber having an outlet and the filling chamber having an inlet for the other stretch of the chain, said outlet and inlet facing one another, and sealing elements at the inlet for the container chain into the oil filling chamber and at its outlet irom the steam chamber, the said elements co-operating with the containers of the chain and sealing the filling and steam chambers hermetically, the filling. distillation and steam chambers enclosing and hermetically sealing from the outer air, the entire extent of the container chain excepting the length of the stretch thereof between said seal? lng elements which is exposed to the outer air for the removal of the coke.

3. Apparatus for the continuous distillation of high-boiling hydrocarbons to coke comprising, in

combination, a furnace having an oil filling chamber,a chamber with two openings in the walls thereof, and a steam chamber, an endless chain oi distillation containers having an upper stretch arranged to pass said containers successively and continuously through said chambers, the filling chamber having an inlet through which the lower stretch of said chain enters and the steam chamber having an outlet through which the lower stretch of said chain passes out, said inlet and outlet being relatively close to and facing one another, all of said containers in the chain being adapted to receive oil, and sealing elements at the inlet for the lower stretch of the container chain into the filling chamber and at its outlet from the steam chamber and cooperating with the containers of the chain to seal the filling and steam chambers hermetically, the filling, distillation and steam chambers enclosing and hermetically sealing from the outer air, the entire extent of the container chain excepting a short length of the lower stretch thereof between said sealing elements which is exposed to the outer air for the removal of the coke.

4. In apparatus for the continuous distillation to coke of high-boiling hydrocarbons, the combination of a substantially air-tight furnace structure comprising an oil filling chamber, a distillation chamber and a steam chamber, an endless chain of distillation containers all adapted to receive oil, said chain having an upper stretch L arranged to pass through said chambers, the filling chamber having an inlet for the entrance of the lower stretch of the chain and the steam chamber having an outlet through which the lower stretch of the chain passes therefrom, said inlet and outlet being located below the distillation chamber in close relation to and facing one another, and sealing elements at the inlet for the lower stretch of the container chain to said filling chamber and at the outlet for the lower stretch of the chain from said steam chamber, said sealing elements co-operatlng with the containers of the chain and sealing the structure hermetieallinthe filling, distillation and steam chambers enclosing and hermetically sealing from the outer air, the entire extent of the container chain excepting a short length of the lower stretch thereof between said sealing elements which is exposed to the outer air for the removal of the coke.

LFRED KNUDS EN. 

